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After a rather lengthy hiatus, it is time to get back on the beat. Took a few months off to concentrate on some other things. Had some fun, picked up on skiing again, made some decisions on the future and started to move forward on those plans. One of those plans included a new vehicle, one that can pull a boat or a trailer. Mission accomplished. No trailer or boat, yet, but a very nice, sparkling new Nissan Pathfinder. We intend to make use of it this summer while we work out the next part of our plans.

Making use of it will create a new offering, Travelling Alberta (or Saskatchewan, BC or wherever we end up). The first instalment, a trip to Vulcan, Alberta. Vulcan is a town of 2,000 people, 130 km south-east of Calgary on Hwy 23. Why Vulcan. Let’s think Star Trek. Yes, little Vulcan has one the best Star Trek museums around. Forgot to take a picture of the museum,, no snow the day we were there. The name of this gem, the Vulcan Tourism and Trek Centre.

Visitor centre in the town of Vulcan, Alberta, Canada (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Inside are many treasures, many donated by past cast members of the various franchises. The town holds an annual event “Spock Days” which highlights appearances by various cast members. This year’s event goes from June 13 to June 15, 2014 and features Nana Visitor (Major Kira Nerys on Deep Space Nine) and Rene Auberjonois (Odo on Deep Space Nine). Tickets for the event are available at this link. A nice road trip for a shakedown cruise. We did manage to remember to take a few pictures.

Bilingual Welcome Sign

They know how to be friendly. They have even built a replica of the Enterprise.

And, after a quick coffee at the Town Cafe on Centre Street, we are off to Calgary.

I took this shot many years ago (1991?) and is taken looking down into the canyon from the decking that goes through and around the site. Very impressive place, but only one of many in the park. On a personal level, Jasper is Banff without the crowds. In comparison, it is far more natural and focused on preservation. There is a great ski hill (Marmot Basin), and the standard resort amenities, but has unique charm that I enjoy when we visit.

Alberta native Corb Lund is featured today (a few days late) as my Halloween choice for Song Of The Day. Corb has been an Alberta favourite for many years. Originally a punk rocker in the 1990’s, he moved to country/folk and has ridden success since. I love the name of his band, The Hurtin’ Albertans. He has 5 Juno nominations with 1 win and 25 Canadian Country Music association nominations with 11 victories. This tune, “Dig Gravedigger Dig”is from his 2012 album “Cabin Fever”. The song shows off his skill as a country singer and generates a pretty good official video. As a commenter says, Canada’s version of Thriller.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t on this day trip (had to work), but Lori was, along with her brothers and Cec. They caught Mama Bear and Baby Bear on the side of the road at Waterton Lake National Park. Nice shot.

This week we have “Weekly Photo Challenge: One Shot, Two Ways”. An interesting concept. With digital cameras, most pictures we take are multiple shots of the same vista, done in different ways. This makes it very hard to come up with the perfect set. We’ll give it a go though.

I took these shots at Waterton Lake, Alberta in Canada. They are of a 1920’s vintage railway hotel known as the Prince Of Wales Hotel. Quite a stunning site. Waterton is part of the Canadian National Park System. It straddles the Canada-USA border and borders Glacier National Park in Montana. It was created in 1895m as Canada’s 4th national park. It was October when we were there and it was not a classic weekend weatherwise. Added to the photos though.

The lake is a reservoir on the Bow River, withing spitting distance of the Rockies. We found it had spectacular views, a large community of boats, a sailing school and plenty of mooring availability. In other words, it ticked most of our boxes. What it is missing is the ability to go on week-long adventures, as in, no down lake areas to moor or anchor. Very beautiful, only that this is all there is. Scratch Ghost Lake.

Didn’t take to many decent pictures, but here is a video of crazy Canucks sailing Ghost Lake in November.

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When we last left off, we were about to take our first lessons at the Glenmore Reservoir here in Calgary. Lori asked to write this and now, months and months later, I have given up and am moving on out of sequence. After our Glenmore adventure, we determined that we may need a spot to practise with a cheap 20 footer, or something of that ilk. Basically, we are full of ideas, but no plan, kind of winging it as we go. We had asked around and we were told of another reservoir near Brooks, Alberta that offered space and consistent winds. Many people had boats here, and it was reasonably close to Calgary. So, off we went to investigate.

We quickly determined it was a lake of some substance, just not the prettiest lake. This is quite common on the prairies.

We also determined that some pretty good size boats were out here.

Unfortunately, we also determined that the lake was not what we were looking for. It definitely had few surprises for wind as it was a good-sized body of water with few impediments on shore to disrupt the wind. This was also a negative as were looking for a place that could give us with enough variety and nooks and crannies to keep us occupied on overnight trips. This was not a feature of Newell Lake. Can’t win them all. We will continue the search in our next instalment.

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Living in Calgary means being close to one of the icons of travel, Lake Louise and of course, the classic picture of one standing on the edge with the majestic view behind you. We have now been there many times with guests and have taken the picture on multiple occasions. So, without much fanfare, I have compiled the Lake Louise Post of Fame. I will add to this on each opportunity (or as I find old pictures). I also encourage our friends and relatives to contribute their own photos to the cause and I will update the Post of Fame.

The Real Canadian Music Blog: The Real Canadian Music Blog

Good evening folks. This is the answer to the most asked question of the week, what is the number 1 song in Alberta, Canada this week. The answer, according to CKUA radio, available around the world at CKUA.com is ….Catfish Blues, a catchy number by BMW: Belzner, McLean, Williams. Enjoy. If you like, lots more […]

I always enjoy promoting Canadian talent, especially if they are from Calgary. Kate came to my attention in January of 2019 and I am just getting around to introducing you to her now. A bit of a brain break. Kate Stevens is singer songwriter in the story teller vein. She has a very nice voice, […]

Do you know this song? Or this one? Both were written by Allee Willis, who passed away on December 24th of heart failure. A prolific writer, she was nominated for a Tony for A Color Purple soundtrack and won a Grammy for the same as well as several other nominations and wins at […]